Friday, February 29, 2008

Cool Greens, Hot Rice

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Today's lunch delivered an exciting mix of elements that Colleen whipped up in no time. Chinese-style scallion-stuffed buns and a wholesome curried blend of tofu, broccoli, and potatoes graced our Friday plates. The toasted sesame salad added a familiar Asian accent and tied it all together without overpowering the buns or curry-rice centerpiece.

The Goods: This meal definitely fell under the creative umbrella of Asian Fusion. The salad's cool temperature and delicious combo of toasted sesame seed oil and rice vinegar could have passed for a Japanese appetizer, while the shepherd's purse buns would've satisfied any dim-sum fan, and the curry's balanced sweetness of coconut with a lemony bite represented Thai-inspired cuisine.

And now it's time to turn the tables again for our second Café VegNews giveaway! Hit us with your best shot and you may be the lucky recipient of a VN goodie bag, plus you'll get the chance to influence our lunch menu for a whole week. So be sure to leave your comments here by next Friday to be in consideration for our prize!

The question: Okay, it's a two-parter: Remember Raw Week? What theme week would you like to see next on Café VegNews?

18 comments:

I loved raw week! I am going to say you should do sandwich week! A different sandwich everyday.. it will give me brown bag (or in my case, lunch box) (gotta be environmentally friendly here!)lunch ideas too!

I vote for showing all those non-vegans what a salad really is...we're not rabbit food eaters. I propose a main entree salad week-get creative, make it hearty, go international, show off some awesome homemade dressings and adorn us with some beautiful salad creations!

I think you should do a breakfast-for-lunch week! Like IHOP, but vegan-style! (Of course, since veggies are very important, a plate of pancakes could be allowed to have a green salad on the side. Hehe.)

Omega-3 fatty acids week! Whenever I shop I am always on the prowl for foods that will increase my intake of Omega 3 fatty acids.

Omnivores and veggies alike often face quite a challenge getting a proper balance of Omega-3s and Omega 6s, with the 3s being most important and the 6s being easier to get enough of. However, there are lots of great vegan sources of Omega-3s - flax, tofu, walnuts, romaine, cloves, oregano, squash, hempseeds, canola oil, cauliflower, cabbage, miso, strawberries, soybeans. You can see that with some focus, it's easy to get omega-3s into any course of a meal!See me favorite nonprofit health site's page on O3FA: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=84

I also have to say, I love the idea of sandwich week. Such a traditional American food format that is so easily adaptaple to a vegan diet.

Healthy desserts week! ie, desserts that are so good for you, you could eat them as a meal. Like an applesauce/banana cake spread with almond butter, a tofu based mousse served with fancy fruit salads, etc. :)